WalMart, Huron Estates property agreement to go to hearing

Public hearings will be taking place in the city of Cheboygan and Inverness Township in the near future on the topic of extending a ‘425’ agreement between the two entities involving property that contains WalMart and the Huron Estates complex.The city of Cheboygan has tentatively set an Oct. 23 date for their hearing, following recommendations by city attorney Stephen Lindsay at Tuesday’s meeting.

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By Zac Britton

Cheboygan Daily Tribune - Cheboygan, MI

By Zac Britton

Posted Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:13 AM

By Zac Britton

Posted Oct. 11, 2012 at 11:13 AM

Cheboygan

Public hearings will be taking place in the city of Cheboygan and Inverness Township in the near future on the topic of extending a ‘425’ agreement between the two entities involving property that contains WalMart and the Huron Estates complex.

The city of Cheboygan has tentatively set an Oct. 23 date for their hearing, following recommendations by city attorney Stephen Lindsay at Tuesday’s meeting.

Public Act 425, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is ‘a conditional land use transfer statute that allows two or more municipalities the option of conditionally transferring land to one another.’ In the instance of Huron Estates and Wal-Mart, both are considered to be partially or entirely within the boundaries of Inverness Township but the city provided water, sewer and public safety services. Both parties split tax funds generated by both locations.

According to Lindsay, the city has two 20-year agreements with the township set to expire this year, with one agreement already granted a temporary extension from July 2012. An initial request, approved by council during the Sept. 19 meeting, to seek another extension through 2013 as negotiations resume was countered by the township in granting a request through mid-December 2012 to allow public feedback on the issue.

Ron Neuman, Supervisor for Inverness Township, revealed that a public hearing date has not been set for his constituents.

The hearing, as stated by Lindsay “opens up a window of opportunity for both municipalities to publish an appropriate notice to the taxpayers that these extensions are being considered, thus triggering a 30-day window in which the taxpayers could seek a referendum, something required by the law.”

Should no issues arise, an extension to Oct. 1, 2013 could be set.

Based on discussion from City Council, Mayor Richard Sangster and Lindsay on Tuesday, the city is most interested in not just a temporary extension, but a continuation of the current agreement — termed by the attorney as ‘easy to administer’ — for an additional 20 years and keeping within the state requirements that 425 agreements exist with a 50-year limit.

The current agreement was summarized as “I mill to township for the taxes collected with the city eventually taking over property, Other agreement allowed for 1 mill plus a 50/50 sharing of state and federal revenue monies.”

Lindsay explained that the existing proposal had two or three issues he wished to discuss with township officials, but the new proposal submitted by the township included “approximately 16 points to discuss.”

The new proposal was not made available to the Daily Tribune.

According to other documentation supplied to city leadership and the Daily Tribune, Timothy MacArthur, who is representing the township, has stated that another attorney — William Fahey — has been retained by the township as ‘special counsel on Act 425 issues.’ MacArthur’s letter to Lindsay explained that Fahey had an opinion that any extension beyond 2012 may be possible without the public hearings.

Page 2 of 2 - City councilman Michael VanFleet was not pleased with the continued delay on Tuesday.

“Whatever the motivations are with Inverness Township’s board in not agreeing to extend an agreement that had been in place for all these years, I want to be clear that this isn’t a hold-up based on something we’re doing here at the city,” he stated, following Lindsay’s report. “That needs to be very clear to all of our taxpayers. It’s not us.”

Neuman, who did not attend the City Council meeting, did not wish to share details of the township’s proposal when reached on Wednesday.

“I really don’t want to discuss that right now because it really could get misinterpreted by the city,” he stated. “I’d be happy to discuss it with (the Daily Tribune) once we’ve had a meeting (between city and township officials). We put together a proposal with various items in it that are concerns of the township, but again — it’s a proposal.

“There’s some folks that are misinterpreting that as being etched in stone — it’s not, it’s a proposal,” he added.

Should an extension not be granted or both entities dissolve their agreement, there will be immediate effects — including a loss of approximately $136,000 in annual revenue to the city. For the occupants of the Huron Estates and WalMart, police and fire departments coverage could be interrupted with utilities possible affected, although Lindsay stated in a city letter that utilities would not immediately cease.

“It is not in the township’s interest, not in the property owners or the city’s interest to simply allow these agreements to terminate without providing realistic opportunity to continue without negotiation,” Lindsay summarized.